Archive for February, 2013

Around the world, earth’s weakened structure shows overwhelming evidence that it is collapsing. Man-made structures, transportation, and industrial operations continuously destruct, sinking the planet’s shell deeply into its failing self.

If these collapses continue unabated––and mankind has no power to stop them––they will end life on this planet as we know it. Planet Earth is telling mankind that it just can’t take any more of our “modern advancements”!

Here are just a few cases: “A stretch of U.S. 89 in northern Arizona will remain closed indefinitely because . . . The road collapsed [which also closed] Cocoon College campus in Page” nearby.

In the urban center of Guangzhou, China recently, the ground under several buildings and commercial shops opened up with deafening noises and sending smells of escaping gases that could be sensed miles away.

Also this week, a broken water main in a residential area of Grand Rapids, MI, blew open a city block-size sink hole, flooding streets and yards, forcing some residents to evacuate and threatening to dismember telephone lines.

For one detailed example of how these sink holes can vastly effect modern life: Last November, a monster sinkhole swallowed up huge swaths of forest acreage near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Steve Elwart, research analyst with the Koinonia Institute and a U.S. Homeland Security consultant, explains:

“Southern Louisiana is in danger of experiencing an environmental calamity rivaling the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, thanks to a massive, expanding sinkhole that is gobbling up the forest.” Last summer huge bubbles of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and other explosive levels of natural gasses popped up in the bayou, along with ground tremors. Several residents had to be evacuated.

Finally a sink hole opened up, in some places 422 feet deep, and began swallowing up trees 100 feet tall. The United States Geological Service estimates that hole is now a canyon over six acres in size, and now threatens an underground storage tank holding 63 million gallons of butane gas.

Apparently the Texas Brine Company caused this galloping catastrophe by digging in salt domes beneath the bayous. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claims these caverns are part of the Napoleonville salt dome formation, “used for the commercial mining of petroleum, salt and sulfur.”

Officials expect the hole’s continuous expansion could eventually cause massive natural gas explosions. Landowners have sued Texas Brine and Louisiana Department of Resources, claiming this sink hole endangers their lives, affects their drinking water, and defenders covered up facts about these threats for years.

Clearly, man’s greed and selfishness is causing earth to collapse upon itself. Would to God, Christians would produce plus size Christian t-shirts with the promise of Revelation 11: 18: “ . . . and Thy wrath is come . . . that they should be judged, and That thou shouldest . . . destroy them which destroy the earth.”

After covering fake and substitute seafoods in fish markets, grocery stores and restaurants in the United States for the weeks, I am skeptical of FDA’s insistence that horse meat––in frozen burgers at least––are not in this country.

For one thing, as Tara Lohan exposes in ‘Nestlé Recall and Mafia Connections: 5 Things You Should Know As Horse Meat Scandal Grows:’ “Experts within the horse slaughter industry have told the Observer there is evidence that both Polish and Italian mafia gangs are running multimillion-pound scams to substitute horsemeat for beef during food production.

“There are claims that vets and other officials working within abattoirs and food production plants are intimidated into signing off meat as beef when it is in fact cheaper alternatives such as pork or horse.”

It is estimated that frozen meats in Europe may have been moved through hundreds of countries. Lohan points to a Dutch trading company called Draap––which spelled backwards is the Dutch word for horse––which is registered in Cyprus but has ‘an offshore vehicle’ in the British Virgin Islands.

She points out that it was revealed in a criminal trial against “a Dutch fraudster . . . Jan Fasen,” that he had sent horsemeat to France imported “from South America and Mexico fraudulently labeled as Dutch and German ‘beef’––a practice that had been going on since 2007.

In another story, ‘Buffalo, Donkey & Goat Meat Found in Beef Products,’ U.K.’s Guardian cites a report by three professors at Stellenbosch University that “99 of 139 samples” of “beef burger patties, sausages and deli meats” in South Africa were from animals in that title as well as soya, gluten and pork.

One of the researchers, Professor Louwrens C. Hoffman, says: “This study confirms that the mislabeling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labeling regulations but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts.” Paramount in those concerns is health.

Because the the FDA (Food Drug Administration) has not issued a definitive and official position about substitute fish products, why is it assumed believable when that agency insists American hamburger meat is not also tainted?

Is FDA saying that this country does not ever import meats from Mexico, South America, or the Virgin Islands, etc.? Is that same agency––which approved genetically engineered vegetables in our stores, and announced last December that it is about to approve “genetically engineer salmon,” jokingly referred to as “Frankenfish,” for our grocery shelves––now claiming adequate tests of our meats?

Such criminal malfeasance should not take place in the U.S., Europe, South Africa or any where else. It must stop. Otherwise the world is looking at the slow mass poisons of billions of people as Bible prophecies set forth in Revelation 6: 8: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill . . .”

Hmm. Did they expect that radiation-filled water gushing into Pacific ocean waters from Fukushima’s nuclear power plants since 2011 would just evaporate? But if that happened it would be in the atmosphere we breath. Right?

Scientists now admit fish have ingested the poisoned stuff from Pacific ocean waters, and brought it all the way to California. So fish ‘drink’ ocean water, and thus Fukushima‘s mistake moves up the food chain to reach, ahhh, people?

And these men of science express surprise to find ‘small amounts’ of radiation still in fish today? Where else did they expect nuclear waste to go? Hint, hint boys: Haven’t you taught us that radiation poisons lasts for a thousand eons?

In ‘Radioactive Fish Found In California: Contamination From Fukushima Disaster Still Lingers,’ Aaron Sankin gawks surprise: “Nearly two years after a powerful earthquake triggered a leak at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the effects of that disaster are still being felt on the other side of the planet.

“A report released earlier this month by researchers at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station found that bluefin tuna caught just off the California coast tested positive for radiation stemming from the incident.”

But Wait! Daniel Madigan, one of the writers for this study, says consumers shouldn’t worry about eating Pacific Ocean tuna: “We’re exposed to radiation in almost all of the food we eat . . . the isotope has been present in Pacific marine life for decades as a result of mid-20th century nuclear testing.” Well that’s reassuring!

Sankin adds: “Some 40 percent of bottom-feeding fish caught near the Fukushima plant tested positive for high levels of Cesium contamination, indicating that the plant still may be experiencing low-level leaks; however, MOST of those types of fish stick relatively near the Japanese coast and don’t migrate all the way to the Americas.” My, my what other guarantee do we need?

We are to rest assured that Japan’s government has banned the sale and export of MOST of the fish caught near the Fukushima coast. But, don’t despair. Madigan says bluefin tuna is so over-fished that 96% of its population is depleted.

And in ‘Bluefin Tuna From The Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Still Have Traces Of Radiation,’ Forbes says that people will stop buying bluefins as they are radiated, and the species will replenish. Besides Forbes writes, at a recent auction in Tokyo, a 500 pound bluefin tuna sold for a record $ 1.76 million. Yippee! Another reason to take heart: as Earthend’s Food Inspector Butterman reminds us, what one would buy in the market or sushi bar today for bluefin tuna probably isn’t tuna anyway, but some “better” substitute stealthy slipped in!

With such ‘optimism’ about the chances of not being killed with nuclear-powered waters, we turn to Christian messages for inspiration. As the Apostle writes, we must: “ . . . put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2: 15).”

I once cringed when doctors from Third World countries insisted that practicing physicians in the United States and Europe had sold out their profession to pharmacy and technology companies, but now I wonder if they are not correct.

While the government is resisting the flow and use of illegal drugs, over these same decades, they have encouraged the use of pharmaceutical pain killers across the country. So-called pain clinics, abundantly prescribing these pills have sprung up everywhere, and are most available in the state of Florida.

Record overdoses of these types of deadly ‘medicines’ have increased every year. Sure, physicians are to prescribe drugs for pain when needed, but such diagnosis should never be made for physician or drug company profits. Has our profession been seduced into becoming money-makers for drug companies?

Lindsey Tanner and Mike Stobbe, of Associated Press (AP), write: “Drug overdose deaths rose for the 11th straight year, federal data show, and most of them were accidents involving addictive painkillers despite growing attention to risks from these medicines.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control) published its findings in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. As in previous years, opioid drugs––i.e. OxyContin and Vicodin––caused three-fourths of overdose deaths.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told AP: “doctors and patients don’t realize how addictive these drugs can be, and that they’re too often prescribed for pain that can be managed with less risky drugs. They’re useful for cancer, but if you’ve got terrible back pain or terrible migraines, using these addictive drugs can be dangerous.”

What has happen to my profession? Is it true that doctors do not know this? Frieden says data indicates a need for more state-level drug monitoring programs; and that more of these “pill mill-pain clinics” need to be shut down.

Even federal government panels now recommend the same restrictions on Vicodin and similar medications that are on known narcotic drugs like morphine. But shut down of ‘pill mills’ will be difficult. Tom Collins of Time Magazine says:

“There are more of these pain clinics here in Brossard County [FL] than McDonald’s restaurants: 115 so-called pill mills, vs. about 70 of the burger franchises. . . . [nothing prevents] patients from getting multiple prescriptions . . . cocaine is no longer king in South Florida. . . . oxycodone now reigns supreme.”

An unimpeachable study by the Oceana conservancy group has found that a third of the fish being sold or served in America’s restaurants, grocery stores and sushi bars is illegally labeled. Such mislabeling threatens public health.

Of the 1,215 fish samples tested from 674 retail outlets in all U.S. regions since 2010, some states fared worse than others, dependent on certain types of fish. In New York, for example, 94% of fish sold as tuna was not tuna at all.

In ‘Survey Finds That Fish Are Often Not What Label Says,’ Kirk Johnson says: “The study also contained surprises about where consumers were most likely to be misled—sushi bars topped the list in every city studied—while grocery stores were most likely to be selling fish honestly. Restaurants ranked in the middle.”

Owner of Dirk’s Fish Gourmet Shop tells Monica Eng of the Chicago Tribune that fish substitutions are driven by industry profits. In ‘Are Chicago Diners Getting the Fish They Paid For?’ Eng writes: “Chicago diners who think they are eating red snapper may actually be munching on goldbanded jobfish. Those who order Alaskan cod may really be tucking into a threadfin slickhead. And fans of yellowtail could just be getting a fish tale.”

Eng explains: “Improperly labeled fish can cost consumers financially, but these substitutions also can have health consequences. As in many cities, Chicago purveyors were found marketing white tuna that was actually escolar, which is cheaper and can cause severe digestive problems.”

Nadia Arumugam of Forbes adds: “Certain fish are known to build up mercury in their meat, and these should be avoided, particularly by pregnant women. Tilefish and king mackerel are two such fish: both were sold to consumers who believed they were procuring red snapper and halibut respectively.”

Beth Lowell, of Oceana advises: “Purchasing seafood has become the ultimate guessing game for U.S. consumers. . . no one is safe from seafood fraud. We need to track our seafood from boat to plate so that consumers can be more confident that the fish they purchase is safe, legal and honestly labeled.”

Arumugam points to other astounding findings from Oceana: “Of the 120 samples of fish touted as red snapper, only seven transpired to be the genuine article; In New York City, EVERY sushi venue sold mislabeled fish; In Washington D.C., EVERY snapper sample was mislabeled . . .”

Eugene Gorrin writes in response to the New York Times article on such common illegal tactics among those who sell food in our land: “Another step in the decline of America––deception over honesty, cutting corners rather than doing the right thing, screwing over others to get an advantage.”

Of course government regulators are not investigating. As online Bible lessons reveal, such theft awaits God’s harshest judgment: “He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress (Hosea 12: 7).” Such evil!

Scientists are just beginning to delve into ways of preventing natural explosions in space plummeting fragments from a massive meteor fire ball that rained its burning rocks to injure more than 1,200 children and adults in the Ural mountain city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, this week. No deaths of been reported.

At 9: 20 a.m. local time, roaring noises from the meteor’s awesome shock wave smashed out windows, set off car alarms, collapsed roofs, and made the city’s 1.1 million people believe that some type of war had started.

In Associated Press’ ‘Meteor explodes over Russia, 1,100 injured,’ Jim Heintz insists the meteor “exploded with the force of 20 atomic bombs . . . 20 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb . . . at a much higher altitude.”

Most injuries came from shattered windows in apartment buildings. ABC News reports: “the injured includes at least 204 children. 30 adults and 13 children were taken to hospitals. Two were reported to be in serious condition.”

In ‘Meteor Injures At Least 1,200 in Russia,’ Will Englund writes: “The intense flash of light was recorded on video . . . nearly 300 miles to the north. The trail of the meteor was also visible in Kazakhstan, more than 80 miles to the south.

Englund reports that Russian scientists claim a bright fare, some 4,532 degrees Fahrenheit, preceded three explosive blasts in the meteor before it blew apart. They estimate that this meteor fell at supersonic speeds of 30 to 45 thousand miles per hours, and weighed as much as ten tons.

The incident has caused American politicians to take another look at funding NASA and other scientific programs to study meteors. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who plans hearings on planetary protections, announces: “We have been spending millions to find and track asteroids and comets, but the indications are that this one was so small that we aren’t even looking for objects of this size.

“What concerns me even more, however, is the fact that we have no plan that can protect the Earth from any comet or asteroid. So, even if we find one that will hit us, we might not be able to deflect it.”

Rep. Lamar Smith concurred: “We should continue to invest in systems that identify threatening asteroids and develop contingencies, if needed, to change the course of an asteroid headed toward Earth.”

Lee Roop asks: ‘Why Wasn’t Russian Meteor Detected Before It Entered The Atmosphere?’ and finds there are no easy answers from human technology. He says it was either too dark or too light, or came at the wrong angle. The NASA Blog answers, “Simply put, the meteoroid was too small for the survey telescopes and came at us out of the Sun.”

So much for modern science. 21st century man should expect more visits from the sky. As plus size Christian sweatshirts warn: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24: 30).”

While formation the European Union gave most of the nations a common currency, and open borders as unifying symbols, it did not not enthuse joint standards of culture, civil and criminal law. What one nation in that Union sees as both culturally acceptable, another may not. Now officials are in a quandary over food––horsemeat to be specific. Some EU nations find that meat, not just acceptable but a delicacy, and others find the very idea of eating horses repugnant.

Some food industries within that Union ‘solved’ the matter by slipping horsemeat into frozen foods, and labeling them 100% beef. As legal trails unravel throughout the EU, citizens in the United Kingdom are outraged at the food lies.

On Friday, in ‘Horsemeat Scandal: Traces Found in School Dinners and Hospital Meals,’ authors Matthew Taylor, Damian Carrington and Felicity Lawrence in the ‘U.K. Guardian’ announced that horsemeat has indeed been found in meats in schools, hospitals, and supermarkets in the United Kingdom:

“Rogue horsemeat was . . . identified in school dinners and hospital meals. Officials from the Food Standards Agency confirmed new police raids on three more companies. . . spread to public sector caters and major restaurant chains . . . “In Lancashire cottage pies destined for 47 schools across the county were withdrawn after testing positive for horsemeat. It was not clear how long the contaminated food had been on the menu. . . In Northern Ireland burgers bound for hospitals were withdrawn after officials confirmed they contained equine DNA. Food giant Compass, which supplies over 7000 sites in the UK including schools and hospitals, said a burger product it supplied to two colleges and a small number of offices in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had tested positive.”

Moreover, horses slaughtered in England, but shipped to France may have included a banned substance, poisonous to humans, phenylbutazone, known as bute. Late last week, Stephen Castle of The New York Times headlines, ‘Britain Says Equine Drug May Have Entered Food Chain:‘ “The British Food Standards Agency said that it had checked the carcasses of 206 horses slaughtered in Britain between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7. Of these, eight tested positive for the drug.”

So far U.K. news outlets have not mentioned prisons, jails or nursing homes. But as food in elementary schools is contaminated, undoubtedly it reached those institutions for the less fortunate even beforehand.

Beef contaminated with horsemeat was sold at Burger King and Aldi Foods in the U.K. and E.U.––both of which are heavily franchised in the United States. One must wonder at what point will the U.S. Food and Drug Administration start testing frozen foods and meats in our own shores.

Never in God’s Holy Word is it accepted that men should eat horses. He sets standards for animal meats, fish and fowl for people to eat: “These are the beasts which ye shall eat. . . Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat (Leviticus 11: 2-3).” As wholesale Christian books point out––horses do not fit these guidelines!

Not only are the mislabeled fish coming from overseas, supposedly below U.S. Food and Drug Administration attention, they are: 1) Defrauding the American people; 2) Bringing in poisonous foods and chemicals; 3) Robbing American fishermen of jobs; and 4) Paving the way for other illegal food products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has for years intermittently suspended import of various types of fish from China, yet the public is seldom notified with such suspensions are lifted. For almost a decade U.S. importers have known that Chinese fish imports come from contaminated, chemical-filled waters.

In 2011, Microbiologist Michael Doyle from the University of Georgia told the American Society for Microbiology (ASM): “ . . . legislation passed in the U.S. late last year is suppose to ensure companies establish appropriate oversight, but the FDA has done nothing to effectively implement the new law.” ASM reports more than 80 per cent of the fish and seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported from Asia where fish are often fed with human and animal waste.

Just today, in ‘Food Agency Raids Slaughterhouse Amid Horsemeat Scandal,’ Sylvia Hui of Associated Press broke the story that British authorities have raided the Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in northern England’s Yorkshire a meat processing company thought to be selling horsemeat and calling it beef:

“Millions of burgers and frozen meals have been recalled around Europe and many accusations have been made, but so far it’s not clear how horsemeat got introduced into so many beef products.

“French authorities have already pointed to an elaborate supply chain that involved Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in meals like lasagna and moussaka to consumers around the continent.”

He writes that frozen horsemeat, sold as ‘beef,’ transfers from distributors in as many as 16 countries, including Romania, Ireland, Sweden, France, Britain, Cyprus, The Netherlands, the Irish Republic, Poland, Holland, Luxembourg, etc.

Robin McKie of The Observer.uk writes that horsemeat might contain “a chemical known as bute or, to give its full name, phenylbutazone, a drug that is given to horses to relieve pain and treat fevers,” which is harmful to humans.

Horsemeat, as imitation beef, is in frozen foods. Can any doubt that it may well be shipped in frozen containers to the U.S. as well? Can one not see why used Christian Bibles insist we pray before meals: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, . . . (Matthew 26: 26);” “Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food . . . (2 Corinthians 9: 10).

The fraud of mislabeled fish in restaurants and grocery stores in the United States has grown to astounding proportions. Suppliers of these foods are likewise responsible for severe overfishing in ocean and river waters. Thus, they reason that short supplies necessitate substitutions unbeknownst to buyers.

Last December, the Boston Globe completed in-depth reporting on the state of mislabeled fish in America’s grocery outlets. In ‘Accountability Lost in Murky Fish Supply Chain,’ Beth Daley and Jenn Abelson explain that Boston restaurants serve more than 7,000 cod fish dinners a year. But while the meal costing $ 22.95 is advertised as white Atlantic cod, customers are sold cheaper Pacific cod.

Restaurants simply blame suppliers, but suppliers also deny responsibility. Boston wholesaler, North Coast, exclaims that the cod caught off New England is in short supply: “Years of overfishing and, more recently, changing ocean conditions have prompted the government to impose stringent catch limits on Atlantic cod, even though many menus across the region suggest otherwise.”

Daley and Abelson write: “The pattern of problems at businesses that buy from North Coast illustrates a glaring lack of accountability in the poorly regulated seafood trade. Handshake deals and vague invoices make it easy for mislabeling — intentional or not—to take place at the expense of consumers who end up paying more for inferior seafood.”

On his expose, the ‘Dr. Oz Show’ series, ‘Dr. Oz Investigates Supermarket Food Fraud,’ Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Oz revealed the high percentages of fish substitutes now in supermarket sea food departments in the United States.

He and other researchers estimate that up to 50% of inferior fish substitutes are sold for superior fish. He also discussed illegally labelled ‘extra-virgin olive oil,’ which in some cases is not olive oil at all, and may even be petroleum oil.

ABC News extends the story Boston Globe with information that the astute reporters sent fish purchased to a laboratory in Canada where “DNA tests found 48 percent of the fish had been mislabeled as a more expensive type of fish.”

Brian Hartman from niagarasquare.com writes for ABC of Boston Globe research: “Fish samples were gathered from 134 restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets, and the results were staggering.

“Every one of 23 white tuna samples tested turned out to be something other than tuna. In most cases the fish labeled tuna was escolar, which . . . was ‘nicknamed the Ex-Lax of fish’ by some in the industry for the digestion problems it can cause. All but two of the 26 red snapper samples were another kind of fish.” Cape Cod fisherman Eric Hesse says: “Mislabeling fish is at a ridiculous level. The dealers and restaurants have a vested interest in keeping the illusion going.”

True Christian messages make clear that such deceit in the nation’s diet is judged as imminent evil: “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity (Psalms 10: 7).”

Scientists fear the snow storm blanketing the East Coast this weekend is but a taste of the beastly weather soon to hit the U.S. Warmer winter temperatures, rising sea levels and high winds made this snow storm called ‘Nemo’ historic.

At last count ‘Nemo’ killed at least 10 people, including three in Canada. People are just beginning to dig out of upwards of three feet of snow falling onto the New York to Boston corridor were roads serving roughly 25 million people are still impassable. States of emergency remain declared in most affected states.

Although wind gusts as high as 82 miles per hour blew through the storm, leaf-less falling trees did not affect power lines as much. Thousands of air flights were cancelled. With hundreds of cars stalled stuck in the snow, officials ordered all moving cars off the street. Even the U.S. Post Office shut down.

And pity the poor victims of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island, still without power, and sleeping in tents and tarps even as Nemo struck through. Michelle R. Smith and Jay Lindsay write for Associated Press (AP): “Cars were entombed by drifts. Some people found the wet, heavy snow packed so high against their homes they couldn’t get their doors open.

“Blowing with hurricane-force winds of more than 80 mph in places, the storm hit hard along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between New York City and Maine. Milford., Conn., got 38 inches of snow, and Portland, Maine, recorded 31.9, shattering a 1979 record. Several communities in New York and across New England got more than 2 feet.”

AP also reports that ‘Nemo’ caused more than 650,000 people to lose power in New England. Even the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, had to shut down until backup generations could start:

“Most of the power outages were in Massachusetts, where more than 400,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark. In Rhode Island, a peak of around 180,000 customers lost power, or about one-third of the state.”

Michael Oppenheimer, a climate change expert at Princeton University, said global warming is increasing extreme storms. “Storms like this tend to be heavier than they used to be. That’s a fact.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records show that the Northeast saw a 74 percent increase in precipitation during the heaviest rain and snow events from 1958 to 2011.

As we contemplate ‘Storm Nemo’ and worst weather to come unless our leaders do more to combat Global Warming, let us pray that people remain warm and safe, and that they seek that Haven of Rest found in The LORD Jesus Christ. For Christian messages promise: “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, . . . when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall (Isaiah 25: 4).”